Pats' victory a tale of two heroes
By Tim Weisberg
 
FOXBORO -- In just about a month's time, the Vince Lombardi trophy will be removed from its current home, on its way to San Diego, to be housed for a year in another home, another stadium.
Good-bye, shiny friend, we hardly knew ye.
Coach Bill Belichick brought that trophy out to show his team earlier this week, and to remind them what it took to earn it. For the first time, Belichick allowed the players to dwell on last season's accomplishments. The Pats responded, doing all they could do yesterday to keep that trophy here, beating the Miami Dolphins 27-24 in a thrilling overtime contest.
For a few short hours, the magic that carried the Pats to New Orleans was back. Down 24-13 with just about five minutes to play, the Patriots took a big swig of some of the miracle juice that helped push them along to the Super Bowl last year. As Adam Vinatieri hit two big field goals -- a 43-yarder to send it into overtime, and a 35-yard shot to win it -- the Patriots had a win, and for a short time, a stay of execution.
Of course, that was before it became clear that the Green Bay Packers packed it in against the New York Jets. For all their hard work, all their determination and all the magic that had found its way back to New England, all the Patriots ended up accomplishing yesterday was handing the Jets the AFC East title.
Turns out Belichick's trophy display was really just a chance to say good-bye.
New York now is the lone AFC East team to make it into the postseason. Some might say, of the three teams that were in contention for the division title, the least deserving took it home. The top two teams basically canceled each other out, allowing the Jets to sneak in.
A case could be made that the Jets of this year are much like last season's Patriots. An untested quarterback takes over for the incumbent veteran, and leads the team to a dominating finish to claim the division and move on to the playoffs. A U2 song here, a tuck rule there, a little magic all around, and before you know it, the Lombardi trophy could be the new urn for Leon Hess' ashes.
The Jets are just missing the one key ingredient that can make a team a champion -- heroes.
The Patriots certainly had theirs yesterday. One was the old standby, a hero of such frequency that it's becoming old hat. The other, however, was the unlikeliest sort, and those are the kinds of heroes that legends are made of.
Vinatieri had the focused foot yet again, showing why he's on his way to the Pro Bowl at the end of the season.
"The ground out there is horrendous now. It really is. The field is real chewed up in the middle, and I think my plant foot didn't slide too much, but I know I did chunk the ground right in front of the ball. So unfortunately, I didn't get the trajectory that I was hoping to, but it went straight," said Vinatieri. "Once it cleared the line, I knew it would have enough distance. It was just a matter of getting it high enough."
The kick was enough to send the Gillette fans into a frenzy, but the ruckus was nothing compared to the deafening roar when the Pats won the toss to get the ball first in overtime. All the boys in blue had to do was get within Adam-atic's wide range, and the game was theirs.
"Adam is money … what more can you say about a guy like that?" asked Lawyer Milloy. "He's well deserving of any praise or accolades that he gets. He has ice-cold veins when he gets into situations like that. He's a part of our team, and definitely weapon when we get into situations like that."
New England marched quickly down the field, and despite some big plays faced a fourth-and-two from the Miami 17 yard line. Despite the magnitude of the game, and that the hopes for continuing the season hung in the balance, there was never a thought of going for the first down. Vinatieri trotted out onto the field, to the thunderous approval of Patriot Nation.
"He is the best kicker in the league, so if you want anybody kicking that kick, it's him," said Belichick.
The reaction from the fans in the end zone said it all.
"Mr. Clutch, once again," said Antowain Smith. "This game kind of reminded me of last year, against the Raiders, the big kick to send it into overtime and another big kick to put it away. The guy comes through, what can I say?"
Vinatieri, although confident, would never admit that it's a lock. He shies away from the hero role.
"Every time it seems like it is a new challenge and a new set of circumstances. It is nice just to have the opportunity to be put in that situation," he said.
Vinatieri finished the day four-for-four, and finished the season at .900 (27-of-30). He is in position to finish the season as the most accurate field goal kicker in the NFL, and currently ranks third among active kickers for game-winning field goals with 14, just three behind league-leader Morten Andersen.
While Vinatieri was up to his old kicks -- err, tricks -- an unlikely hero of the unsung variety was stepping up his game and doing all he could to ensure the Pats wouldn't hang themselves with their own belts.
Kevin Faulk, usually relegated to third-down and kick and punt return situations, had what many deemed a "breakout" performance. He rushed for 53 yards, just two fewer than Smith. However, while Smith averaged 2.9 yards on 19 carries, Faulk averaged 6.6 while rushing the ball just eight times.
Where Faulk really shined was in the passing game. He caught nine passes for 70 yards, averaging 7.8 yards. That was good enough to make him the Pat's number one receiver yesterday, three yards ahead of Troy Brown and light years ahead of the rest of the receiving corps.
It was a great way to end a season in which Faulk had quietly become a force. Prior to yesterday's performance, Faulk already had caused a buzz with kickoff returns into the end zone against both Oakland and New York. The match-ups against Miami seemed like a good opportunity for offensive coordinator Charlie Weis to put Faulk to even better use.
"Basically, it was just the right opportunity. It was the right play-calling, and guys were just doing their jobs," said Faulk. "It was real important to me, because at the beginning of the week, I was told that I was going to be like a featured part of the offense."
"Before the game, (Weis) asked me if I was ready. The game was basically centered around a lot of the guys making one-on-one plays against the linebackers and against the corners. When he asked me if I was ready, I said 'There's no time for talking right now. Let's go play the game and we'll see if I'm ready."
He was.
Smith knew it, and had no problem sharing the running duties with the little guy from the next locker.
"Kevin did a great job today. It was a change of pace for us. Get a little quicker, niftier guy in there, a little bit shiftier, and try to keep the defense off-balance a little bit," he said. "When I was in there, it's a power running game, but when he's in there, you don't know what to expect. He just went out there and took advantage and made the plays when he had to make them."
None of his plays will be more talked about during the summer than the one he made in overtime. From the Miami 25-yard line, Tom Brady threw a lofter to Faulk, who made a superb scooping catch over two defenders and brought his feet down a mere inches from the sideline. Seeing a chance, Miami coach Dave Wannestadt challenged the ruling of an in-bounds catch, but before the officials had even finished reviewing the play, all of Gillette Stadium knew Faulk had just come up with a clutch 20-yard reception. So did Faulk.
"Oh, no, I knew I caught it. After I caught it, I knew I had it," he said. "I still don't know how I caught it."
"What a great grab. I mean, Kevin is about five-four. He goes up and reaches over his shoulder and comes down and taps his feet. I mean, what a great catch," said Brady. "Kev has been a spark plug all year. He has been a guy that has made a lot of plays for us all year, so he is a play-maker. And when you have guys like that, you try to get them the ball."
While the New England faithful may be just coming to appreciate Faulk, his teammates wonder what took so long.
"He's one of the hottest players on the team," said Damien Woody. "Look back on the second half of the season and a lot of the key plays on offense, and he made a lot of them. He's a big part of this offense."
"He has had some big plays this year, but he played consistently well (Sunday)," said Belichick. "I thought we were able to get him on some match-ups in the passing game. And you know, Kevin has had a solid year. He has had a hell of a lot of big plays and he certainly came up with them today."
Still, Faulk is weary of using the "breakout" tag. "I'm a role player, I back up Antowain. When I get in the game, I try to help the team any sort of way I can," he said following the game, after he donned a 1966 Chicago Bears number 40 jersey -- that of the great Gale Sayers. For whatever reason, Faulk felt today was the day to wear it.
"This is the first time I've worn it, and I've had it for three months. I don't know, it's just something that had to happen today."
It's called karma, Kevin, and it's one of the things that allows role players to step up and become heroes. Even though the season may be over, the performance of Vinatieri and Faulk prove just how right David Bowie was when he sang that we can be heroes, if just for one day.
Tim Weisberg is a Standard-Times columnist. E-mail him at timweisberg@hotmail.com
This story appeared on Page C6 of The Standard-Times on December 30, 2002.
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